Sam Lavery bowed out of The X Factor in dramatic circumstances on Sunday night after Sharon Osbourne built up to send Ryan Lawrie home only to change her mind at the last second.

The Coxhoe singer was sent home as a result of Sharon saying her name and forcing the outcome to Deadlock where Sam was found to have polled the lowest number of votes from viewers.

It was the end of a tough weekend for the 17 year old. Sam faced criticism from the judges on Saturday night as her take on Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive failed to hit the right note and bookies tipped her to go home.

They were spot on but it could have been very different as after Sam delivered a powerful rendition of Mary J Blige’s No More Drama as her save me song, it looked like Ryan would be going home.

Her mentor Simon and Louis decided to send Ryan home and after being typically indecisive Sharon said “only because he’s been in the bottom three times...” before saying Sam’s name, after looking like she’d been swayed by the crowd behind her.